Tamping devices for setting railroad ties have been in use for a considerable number of years. The apparatus generally consists of a car mounted on railroad wheels and which is provided with eight pairs of tampers, which comprise vertically mounted shafts carrying a tamper tip at their lower ends with the shafts being mounted for rotational as well as vibratory movement. In operation, the shafts are lowered so as to engage the tamper tips with the rocks and ballast on either side of a tie and then as the shafts are rotated or oscillated through a few degrees and vibrated, they are slowly pushed into the ballast and operate to squeeze or force the ballast under the tie to set it at the proper level.
Ballast used in railroad ties differ widely in characteristics, some being quite sandy and others comprising mostly rock. As can be expected, the tips wear out quite rapidly because of the rather rigorous method in which they are used. The normal construction of the tamper tip is a generally wedge-shaped piece of metal having its narrowest edge at the bottom for easier penetration into the ballast.
As the tip wears, the bottom portion becomes wider and wider, and thus in effect becomes more and more difficult to insert into the ballast. For this reason, replacement of the tamper tips is required at rather frequent intervals and replacement involves the cutting off, as by an acetylene torch, of the tip and welding a new tip onto the tamper shaft.